Tropical Storm Fiona: We’re Already Feeling The Effects – Puerto Rico Governor

Tropical Storm Fiona headed for Puerto Rico on Saturday, with forecasters warning it likely would grow into a hurricane before hitting on Sunday with extremely heavy rains with the potential to cause landslides, severe flooding and power outages.

The storm already lashed several eastern Caribbean islands, with one death reported in the French territory of Guadeloupe.

Regional prefect Alexandre Rochatte said the body was found on a roadside after a home washed away in the capital of Basse-Terre. More than 20 other people were rescued amid heavy wind and rain that left 13,000 customers without power, with the storm tearing up roads, downing trees and destroying at least one bridge.

Fiona was centered 70 miles (115 kilometers) south of St. Croix late Saturday afternoon, with maximum sustained winds of 60 mph (95 kph).

It was moving west at 9 mph (15 kph) on a path forecast to pass near or over Puerto Rico on Sunday night.

Fiona was expected to become a hurricane before reaching Puerto Rico’s southern coast.

“We are already starting to feel its effects,” Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi said at a news conference in which the lights briefly went out as he spoke, prompting groans and laughs across the island. “We should not underestimate this storm.”